ISLAMABAD – China has informed foreign embassies of procedures for collecting DNA samples from relatives of foreign nationals still missing after the deadly floods and mudslides along the Nepal-Tibet border last month.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said authorities continue search and identification operations in the Xizang Autonomous Region, also known as Tibet.
China has also established a hotline for families of missing foreign nationals and said embassies would be notified if remains are recovered and identities confirmed. Beijing had earlier said 261 foreign nationals from 23 countries were among those missing on the Chinese side.
On the Nepalese side, 1,385 people have been confirmed dead and 5,130 remain missing, according to figures cited by the Philippine News Agency from Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. A total of 13,676 people had been rescued, while more than 21,000 security personnel were deployed for search, rescue and relief operations.
Among those still missing in Nepal were 587 foreign tourists. Authorities said the figure remained subject to verification and could include unidentified victims or people who had already been rescued.
In Xizang, the reported death toll stood at 43, while 519 people remained missing, including 261 foreigners.
The disaster struck on August 26 after a glacier on Nepal’s Mount Langtang Lirung fractured at an altitude of about 5,200 meters, triggering an ice-rock avalanche that developed into a massive debris flow.
Floodwaters and mudslides affected Nepal’s Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Dhading and Kavre districts, as well as the Kathmandu Valley, while the Gyirong border crossing in Xizang was also buried.
China has also sent DNA forensic experts to Nepal to assist with victim identification efforts. (Anadolu)
